By Kim Se-jeong
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has apparently met with Chinese President Hu Jintao and discussed plans to name his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor, sources said Friday.
The summit was likely held in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun, where Kim arrived earlier in the day, reportedly with his son, in a rare cross-border trip on his armored train amid airtight security.
Earlier Friday, South Korean television network SBS cited anonymous sources to report that Kim actually met Hu in nearby Jilin on Thursday evening, and moved to Changchun on Friday to meet with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping.
Kim’s visit to China came at a time when former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was in Pyongyang negotiating the release of American citizen Aijalon Mahli Gomez, who was freed Friday after being imprisoned since January for illegal entry into the country.
The timing of Kim’s trip indicates that the North Korean leadership considers the dynastic succession of power as paramount to all other concerns troubling the struggling regime, observers said, and the backing of Beijing is considered critical to this.
North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party is scheduled to convene a rare leadership meeting early next month in which the younger Kim could be given a key position that would put him on course to formerly succeed his father.
Considering that Jilin and Changchun are a central part of China’s economic development plans for its northeastern region, there are observations that Kim is attempting to use the background to get China to commit to a new package of economic support for the “Hermit Kingdom.” Changchun in particular is currently home to a range of vibrant industries in auto-making, information technology and other areas.
Kim is expected to return to Pyongyang Saturday without visiting Beijing, according to diplomatic sources.
North Korean and Chinese media have not yet officially confirmed Kim’s visit as of late Friday.
On Thursday, Kim paid a visit to Jilin’s Yuwen Middle School which his father and national founder Kim Il-sung attended for two and a half years starting in 1927. Kim also visited nearby Beishan Park where the remains of anti-Japanese independence fighters are buried, reports said.
Some sources said he visited the two sites considered sacred to his family dynasty ahead of handing power over to Kim Jong-un.
The senior Kim, 68, reportedly struggling with severe health problems, crossed into China around midnight Wednesday aboard his special train.
It was Kim’s second visit to China in about three months, following a previous trip to Beijing in May, an unusual move for the isolated leader who rarely travels abroad.
Kim’s trip came as tensions still run high in the wake of the March 26 sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan and China pushes to jump-start six-nation talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear programs.